Double seal connector



Oct. 14, 1941.- J w I 2,258,941

DOUBLE SEAL CONNECTOR Filed May 19, 1939 3mm fiber b J Waymcuz,

Patented Oct. 14, 1941 UNITED'STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,258,941 DOUBLE SEALCONNECTOR Albert J. Wayman, Youngstown, Ohio Application May 19, 1939,Serial No; 274,648

' (c1. est-6.5)

6 Claims.

This invention relates to lectric cable connectors and in particular toa connector for making a water-tight and moisture-proof joint between anelectric cable and a terminal box, meter casing or other housing member.The'present invention is an improvement over the connectors disclosed inmy prior Patents 2,100,824 and 2,092,- 343.

An object of the present invention is to devise a cable connector inwhich there is a double seal against the admission of moisture to theterminal box, meter casing, or other housing to which the connector issecured. According to my invention, the connector is formed of acylindrical sleeve surrounding the cable and containing an annular ringof permanently plastic adhesive materialforming a seal between the innersurface of the sleeve and the outer surface of the cable, and a secondseal is formed by an annular ring of rubber or other resilient materialforced into contact with the ring of plastic material and compressed soas to maintain a water-tight seal between the inner surface of thesleeve and the external surface of the cable. The annular rubber ringnot only serves as a seal to exclude the entrance of moisture, but italso serves to maintain the plastic material in contact with the innersurface of the sleeve and the xternal surface of the cable.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 is an elevational View of an assembled connector showing thecable arranged in position within the connector.

Figure 2 is a sectional view of the connector taken along the line 22 ofFigure-1;

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of Figure 2;

' Figure 4 is an exploded view showing the various elements forming theconnector in section;

Figure 5 is a view showing the inner face of the cap for the connector,and

Figure 6 is a view showing the upper end of the connector sleeve withthe rubber ring removed.

Referring to the drawing, the connector is formed of a cylindricalsleeve I having a screw thread formed on the lower end thereof forthreaded engagement with an internally threaded socket on a terminal boxor meter casing or any other housing into which the cable 2 is to beintroduced. The lower end of the sleeve has a smaller internal diameterthan the upper end. and a shoulder la is formed inside of the sleeve asshown in Figure 4. Near the middle of the sleeve, an outer section I bis formed with hexagonal shape so that a wrench may be employed to turnthe connector inmounting it in its socket, see Figure 6.

At the large end of the sleeve is arranged a detachable cap 3 which issecured by means of suitable screws to lugs lo and Id formed on thesleeve I. The cap 3 is provided with a cable aperture 3a of such form asto conform to the crosssectional shape of the cable. In the illustratedembodiment of th invention the cable 2 is of oval cross-section and theaperture 30. is of corresponding oval shape as shown in Figure 5, but itwill be understood that caps having different shapes of apertures may beprovided and interchangeably used with the sleeve l. Immediatelysurrounding the aperture So on the inner face of the cap 3 is a ring 3bwhich projects inside of the large end of the sleeve I when the cap isfastened tight against the sleeve. The cap 3 is also provided with anannular ring 30 which is arranged outside of the cylindrical wall of thesleeve I.

For the purpose of providing an annular space within the sleeve forreceiving the sealing compound around the cable, a partition structureis provided in the sleeve at the shoulder la, the partition being formedof a disc 4 of fabric material which'rests directly against the shoulderla and is held in position against this shoulder bymeans of a washer 5.As will be seen from Figure 4, the fabric disc 4 is of larger diameterthan the internal diameter of the sleeve I, and the externaldiameter ofthe washer 5 is slightly less than the internal diameter of th large endof the sleeve I, so that by first placing the disc over the end of thesleeve and then forcing the washer into the open end of sleeve l, thedisc 4 is clamped between the peripheral edge of the washer 5 and theinner wall of sleeve I. As shown in Figure 4, the inner wall of thelarge end of the sleeve is slightly tapered to provide a larger diameterat theend than at the shoulder la. The washer 5 is provided with anaperture 511 of a shape which closely conforms to the outer surface ofthe ca ble. As shown in Figure 6, the fabric disc 4 is slit along theline 4a to permit the cable to be forced through the fabric disc. Itwill be understood that the purpose of providing the fabric disc 4 is tosecure a close fitting partition around the outer surface of the cable 2as shown in Figure 3, but the fabric disc 4 will not be necessary wherethe aperture in the washer 5 closely conforms to the surface of thecable 2.

A ring 6 of. plastic adhesive sealing compound,

such as the material commonly known as uxseal is placed in the annularscaling space adjacent the washer 5, and a ring I of resilient material,such as rubber, is placed adjacent the ring 6. As shown in Figure 4,annular ring I is formed of a substantially cylindrical portion Ia whichfirst enters the sleeve I and has an external diameter substantiallyequal to the larger internal diameter of the sleeve I, and a taperedportion lb of larger diameter than the largest internal diameter ofsleeve I. The aperture 1c of the ring I has a shap generally conformingto the cross-sectional shape of the cable 2 and the internal inner edgeof the ring is beveled as shown at 1d.

l and the washer 5 are first assembled in the I connector and seatedagainst the shoulder Ia. The ring of plastic material 6 is then placedin the sleeve I against the washer 5, and the annular ring of rubber, Iis forced into the large end of sleeve I substantially to the extent ofthe section Ia, but not far enough to compress the ring 6. The cap 3 isthen secured to the sleeve I by the screws having threaded engagementwith the lugs I0 and I d. The connector is now in the assembled form fordistribution to the trade.

In the use of the connector, it will be understood that the connector isfirst screwed into its threaded socket, after suitable dope is appliedto the threads of the sleeve to secure a Watertight seal. The end of thecable is then passed through the aperture 3a in the cap 3, the aperture1c in ring I, through aperture 5a in ring 5 and is forced through theslit la in the fabric disc 4, the fabric disc being distorted to form asleeve around the cable 2 as shown in Figures 2 and 3. After the cableis pushed through to provide the necessary length of cable inside of thehousing or terminal box, the screws securing the cap 3 to the sleeve Imay be tightened up to force the rubber ring I into contact with theplastic ring 6. This causes the plastic ring to be compressed intointimate contact with the outer surface of the cable I, and the innersurface of the sleeve 2, as well as into contact with all exposedsurfaces of the washer 5 and the ring 7, as shown in Figures 2 and3,thus providing a water-tight and moisture-proof seal aroundthe cable. Asthe cap 3 is forced into engagement with the rubber ring I, the annularring 31) formed on the inner face of the .cap 3 engages the outer faceof the ring I and expands the material of the ring to cause intimatecontact between the ring I and the outer surface of the cable 2.Simultaneously, the ring I, is being forced into the end of the sleeveI. and since the section 1b of the ring 1 is of larger diameter than theinternal diameter of the sleeve I, the material of the ring is beingcompressed inwardly by the sleeve I into contact with the cable. Thisaction is also aided by the taper of the inner wall of the sleeve I.Thus, the rubber ring I provides another watertight and moisture-proofseal around the cable.

Experience has shown that in the course of time rubber rings lose theirresiliency and become hardened and are not in themselves entirelyreliable to provide a water-tight seal. In my present construction, eventhough the ring I may in time deteriorate and be ineffective to providea water-tight seal, the necessary seal will be provided by the plasticring 6, and even though the ring I should become lifeless, it'will stillform the function of a packing ring so that by tightening up the screwssecuring the cap 3 to the sleeve I, the plastic ring 6 may be maintainedin the propen contact with the cable and the sleeve.

The resilient ring 'I may be termed a stopper ring, since it cooperateswith the sleeve I in the same manner that a stopper cooperates with themouth of a bottle. As the ring I is forced into the end of sleeve I, thematerial of the ring is compressed into contact with the inner wall ofthe sleeve and the outer surface of the cable and thus forms awater-tight joint between the cable and the sleeve.

It is obvious that various changes may be made in certain details ofconstruction. For example, other forms of partition structures may beemployed-than the elements 4 and 5 to providea partition with anaperture which maintains close contact with the outer surface of cable2. Where the electric cable is manufactured so that its externaldimensions fall within a certain tolerance, it is possible to dispensewith the separate partition structure and to form the wall of the sleeveI below the shoulder Ia so that it fits closely around the surface ofthe cable and will prevent any substantial leakage of the plasticcompound from the sleeve.

What I claim is:

1. A connector for an electric cable comprising a sleeve surroundingsaid cable and providing an annular space therein surrounding saidcable, a. ring of adhesive plastic sealing compound surrounding saidcable in said annular space, a stopper ring of resilientwater-impervious material surrounding said cable adjacent said ring ofplastic material, and means for compressing said ring of resilientmaterial against said ring of plastic material, whereby said ring ofplastic compound forms a Water-tight seal between said cable and saidsleeve, and said stopper ring forms a second water-tight. seal betweensaid cable and said sleeve.

2. A connector for an electric cable comprising a sleeve surroundingsaid cable and providing an annular space therein surrounding saidcable, a ring of adhesive plastic sealing compound surrounding saidcable at the bottom of said annular space, a stopper ring of resilientwaterimpervious material surrounding said cable in the open end of saidspace, a cap for the open end of said connector, and means foradjustably securing said cap to said sleeve whereby said cap forces saidstopper ring into said sleeve and into engagement with said ring ofplastic material, whereby said ring of plastic compound forms awater-tight seal between saidca-ble and said sleeve, and said stopperring forms a second water-tight seal between said cable and said sleeve.

3. A connector for an electric cable comprising, a sleeve forsurrounding said cable and having a larger internal diameter than theexternal diameter of said cable, a partition structure within saidsleeve and provided with a cable aperture adapted to receive said cable,a ring of adhesive plastic sealing compound arranged within said sleeveadjacent said partition, ,a stopper ring of resilient water-imperviousmaterial positioned in the open end of said sleeve adjacent said ring ofplastic material, and means mounted on said sleeve for forcing saidstopper ring into said sleeve.

4. Ina cable connector, the combination of a sleeve having a largerinternal diameter at one end than at the other and having an internalshoulder intermediate the ends thereof, a partition structure mountedwithin the large end of said sleeve adjacent said shoulder andcomprising a fabric disc seated against said shoulder, and an apertureddisc of resilient material positioned entirely within the large end ofsaid sleeve and cooperating with the inner wall of said sleeve formaintaining said fabric disc in position in contact with said shoulder.

5. A combination according to claim 4 in which said fabric disc is slitalong a diametrical line of said disc.

6. A connector for an electric cable comprising a sleeve surroundingsaid cable and providing an annular space therein surrounding saidcable, a ring of adhesive plastic sealing compound surrounding saidcable in said annular space, a stopper ring of resilientwater-impervious material surrounding said cable adjacent said ring ofplastic material, said stopper ring being tapered on the outside andhaving a portion thereof of greater diameter than said annular space,and means for forcing said stopper ring into said sleeve and againstsaid ring of plastic material, whereby said ring of plastic compoundforms a water-tight seal between said cable and said sleeve, and saidstopper ring is pressed inwardly against said cable.

ALBERT J. WAYMAN.

